hypotheticaltornadoesfandomcom-20200214-history
2019 Midwest tornado outbreak
The 2019 Midwest tornado outbreak was a series of tornadoes that affected Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. It is the most costliest tornado to hit the state of Minnesota and the most recent tornado to directly strike downtown Minneapolis and St Paul. Along with the outbreak of tornadoes the storm system also brought heavy rain, baseball-sized hail and damaging winds to the area. =Meteorological Synopsis= On August 19, 2019, a prominent mid-to-upper level trough and closed mid-level low pressure area moved east-northeastward, with a lead upper low pivoting over Canada. A moderately strong polar jet moved east-northeastward over the northern Rocky Mountains to the northern Great Plains. With a broad influence of moderately strong cyclonic flow aloft, the air mass was expected to become unstable across much of the northern Great Plains, through the Upper Midwest and Mississippi Valley, by the afternoon. Dewpoint values had ranged from the upper 60s °F (20 °C) to the lower 70s °F (20–22 °C), with temperatures in the low to mid-80s °F (27–30 °C), and CAPE (a meteorological concept used to predict the force and power of potential storms and tornadoes) predicting referring to values ranging from 2000 to 3000 J/kg. Deep layer wind shear speeds of 50–55 kn (57–63 mph) would enhance storm organization and intensity. These factors, along with CAPE values in excess of 2000 J/kg and an embedded speed maxima rotating around the southern periphery of the low, made the threat of significant severe thunderstorms increasingly likely. At 4:20 PM the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch covering most of the Minnesota River Valley. Tornado outbreak development At 5:02 PM CDT, a thunderstorms fired up in central South Dakota and quickly strengthened. At 5:10 PM the first severe thunderstorm warning for Hand County was issued by the NWS due to the storm producing 1.10 inch hail and 65 mph winds. As chance for tornadoes started to significantly increase, the NWS upgraded the tornado watch for SD to a PDS tornado watch. At 5:26 PM, a tornado warning was issued for a powerful supercell thunderstorm over Spink County. Willow Lake-Bryant Tornado At 6:00 PM, a wedge tornado touched down 3 miles northwest of Willow Lake, SD. The tornado quickly became rainwrapped and started heading southeast at 28 miles per hour. 6 minutes later the EF4 tornado struck Willows Lake, SD nearly obliterating the entire town and killing 2 people. After hitting Willows Lake, SD it continued traveling southeast and eventually hit the town of Bryant, SD where it caused EF2 type damage before lifting. Rich Valley-Lester Prairie Tornado After traveling for 180 miles, the same supercell that produced the Willow Lake-Bryant tornado reached the township of Rich Valley, MN. At 6:34 PM an EF3 tornado touched down inside of the township, damaging 5 barns before moving towards the town of Lester Prairie where it killed one person and caused $500,000 dollars in damage. Waconia-St Paul Tornado At 7:45 PM CDT, the long-track supercell dropped another tornado, this time on the city of Waconia. The tornado rapidly grew into an 400 yard wide multi-vortex wedge and demolished many buildings in northern Waconia and uprooted trees on Coney Island. The tornado then took a northeast track across the Carter Park Reserve where it uprooted large swaths of trees before crossing over Lake Minnetonka. After crossing the lake, the tornado hit the town of Spring Lake where it damaged 14 homes and killed 3 people. =Tornado table=